Saturday, July 18th nine Kensington School directors and administrators joined 60 hard-working women to help fund and build the home of one of Habitat for Humanity Chicago's inspiring women-led families, the Spencers,

as part of "Women Build".

Despite the intense heat, Team Kensington worked tirelessly to finish framing and prepping the Spencer's detached garage.

Team Kensington was proud to represent Kensington School and our continuing efforts to strengthen our communities through service.

To learn more about Habitat for Humanity Chicago's mission to create a world where everyone has a decent place to live, please click here.

Summer Fun!

"Going on an African Safari”

Project Based Learning in June at Kensington!

Through project based learning, children wonder, investigate, observe and find answers.

Kensington School is pleased to announce that our LaGrange and LaGrange Highlands locations have achieved NAEYC accreditation!

The National Association for the Education of Young Children is the nation’s leading organization of early childhood professionals.

Kensington School of Western Springs currently holds NAEYC accreditation and has received the Illinois ExceleRate Gold Circle of Excellence in March 2015!

“We’re so proud to have earned the mark of quality from NAEYC, the Illinois ExceleRate Gold Circle of Excellence, and to be recognized for our commitment to reaching the highest professional standards,” said Barbara Marlas, Founder of Kensington School.

Congratulations Kensington School of LaGrange,

Kensington School of LaGrange Highlands and

Kensington School of Western Springs!

Highlights from March's

Project Based Learning

Seussville is Everywhere!

Clang, Clang, Beep, Beep, Hear the Noisy City!

Jack and the Beanstalk

"Building Buddies"

Dad's Day at Kensington School

Kensington Dads enjoyed coming to school with their "Building Buddy" on Saturday, March 21st.

to visit our students to enhance our project based learning, and broaden our students' understanding of

the world around them.

Who will visit tomorrow?

Kensington Cares:

Feed My Starving Children

Early this March, 18 Kensington teachers, directors and administrative staff, along with other volunteers, packed 23,760 servings for hungry children with Feed My Starving Children as part of our Kensington Cares community service initiative.

Feed My Starving Children is a non-profit organization committed to feeding hungry children in nearly 70 countries around the world.

To learn more about Feed My Starving Children, or to plan a volunteer experience for your family in their Aurora warehouse, please click here.

Highlights from February's

Project Based Learning

The Post Office Project

The Babies Take a Long Time to Grow Project

The Guess Whose Shadow Project

The Arms and Legs Project

A Study of Robots, Space and Engineering

Snowball Express

Our three year olds sang and danced their hearts out during their winter musical program, Snowball Express!

Bravo!

Kensington School's

First Annual Spirit Week!

Silly Sock Day - Sports Day - Superhero Day

Crazy Hair Day - Pajama Day

Highlights from January's

Project Based Learning

Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes

Rosie Revere, Engineer and Iggy Peck, Architect

Move It!

A Study of Motion and Forces

The Tinker Lab

Sugarplum at Kensington

Every December, our four-year olds enjoy a very special Christmas program, just for them!

Our schools transform into a magical winter wonderland overnight (with the help of our parent elves- thank you!) and children join us on Saturday for their winter holiday performance and treats in "Candy Land".

Kensington also welcomes a most special visitor on this day...Santa!

Highlights from December's

Project Based Learning

The Polar Express Visits the North Pole

Mr. Willowby's Christmas Tree

A Study of Holiday Measurement

Tap, Tap, Tap Goes the Elves' Hammers

Violet the Pilot

A Study of Holiday Travel

Kensington Cares:

Ronald McDonald House Charities

Kicking off the holiday season in style, fifty Kensington teachers, directors and administrative staff donned their ugliest sweaters and gathered to wrap presents for the children served by Ronald McDonald House Charities.

As part of our Kensington Cares community service initiative, Kensington School, and the participating staff, donated nearly 400 new toys and books for infants through teens and lovingly wrapped each in festive paper and bows.

Kensington School is honored to be able to support Ronald McDonald House Charities as they help families heal together. It is our hope that these gifts bring smiles to the very special children and families who will receive them.

To learn more about the mission of Ronald McDonald House Charities and find out how you can get involved, please click here.

Community Christmas Trees

Kensington students got into the holiday spirit this month by creating ornaments for community trees. Look for Kensington’s special trees at Graue Mill in Oak Brook, at Cosley Zoo in Wheaton, and at the Brookfield Zoo!

Pickles the Puppy Party!

Children LOVE “Pickles the Puppy,” Kensington School’s language development program for two-year-olds!

In celebration of our favorite furry friend, Pickles, and National Pickle Day, our two-year-olds dressed in green, enjoyed pickle games and donned floppy black ears for a special party in November!

Highlights from November's

Project Based Learning

T is for Turkey and The Thanksgiving Story Project

The Pencil Project

The Grocery Store Project

“The Relatives Are Coming” Project

Look!

Kensington School has a new favorite book, one that promotes a love of nature and outdoor play! The Looking Book, by P. K. Hallinan, is a story of two brothers who are given a pair of “lookers.” They are encouraged to step outside to take a closer look at the wonderful world around them. Our students were amazed at how much more they could now see through their “lookers!”

Highlights from October's

Project Based Learning

The Tree Project

A Fuzzy, Furry, Sticky, Stringy Halloween Project

Drive the Fire Truck Project

“Where the Wild Things Are” Project

Kensington School of Elmhurst is Now Open!

We are thrilled to open the doors to our beautiful school at 425 S. Spring Road in Elmhurst! What a treat it is to walk the sunlit hallways and hear the laughter and voices of children!

We extend a heartfelt thank you to all of our families and teachers for their patience and understanding as we ensured every "t" was crossed and every "i" was dotted!

Kensington Cares:

Northern Illinois Food Bank

As part of our Kensington Cares community service initiative, a group of 13 Kensington teachers, directors and administrative staff volunteered an evening of their time at the Northern Illinois Food Bank.

The group sorted and packaged 3,680 pounds of frozen meat, which will provide 3,066 meals for hungry neighbors in Illinois!

Thank you to those staff who gave of their time and talent to serve others. We look forward to many more community service opportunities to come!

To learn more about the mission of the Northern Illinois Food Bank or to find out how you and your family can help hungry neighbors, please click here

Happy Birthday Scooter

the Traveling Bear!

Our favorite jet-setter, Scooter the Traveling Bear celebrated his birthday the first week of October! Our three and four year old classrooms made his big day extra special by making and signing birthday cards, decorating party hats, singing and playing party games! Teddy bears and stuffed friends of all types were invited as well and joined in the fun. School assemblies and special birthday snacks were enjoyed by children and furry friends alike!

In Scooter’s honor, the children also collected birthday party supplies for Humanitarian Service Project’s Children’s Birthday Project Party-In-A-Box program. In just one week, the three and four year old classrooms collected a combined total of almost 1,500 packages of party supplies!

Humanitarian Service Project was overwhelmed by the generosity of Kensington School students and extremely grateful for the wonderful donation. Humanitarian Service Project expressed their gratitude on their charity's blog. Click here to read their kind post.

Thank you to all the families who helped make Scooter the Traveling Bear’s birthday even more special by donating such an amazing variety and number of birthday party supplies!

Children took to the stage at all our schools in May and June, rounding out their school year with a musical performance.

Our three year old classrooms delighted families with spring songs and poems, while our four and five year old children received standing ovations for their rendition of "The Wizard of Oz."

Look out Broadway, here comes Kensington!

Horsin' Around!

We wrapped up our school year with dynamic hands-on project based learning explorations. Horses were a favorite topic!

Through special visitors, activities, and artistic endeavors, children made exciting discoveries about these amazing animals.

Mom's Garden Party

"If mothers were flowers, I'd pick you!"

An "Egg"citing April!

The “peep peep” of newly hatched chicks could be heard in our school hallways during the month of April as we welcomed dozens of fluffy baby chicks.

Children were able to observe the life cycle of a chicken, from egg to chick, as part of our project based learning explorations in April.

Incubators were set up in each of our schools and the children helped count down 21 days to “Hatch Day”! What an amazing experience it was for children, families and teachers alike to witness our chicks emerge from their eggs!